Only the Graves Were Fresh
by SergeantPixie
Summary: "It had been a long time since he'd last seen her, but he did his best to be brave and good and strong for that little girl who loved him so. Maybe one day he would find his way back to her. And he did, one dark night on Wickery Bridge, some ten years after he had left the town and that sweet little girl behind. Little girls do not stay little."


**AN: Oh man, I have been working on this story for a loooonnng time. The beginning of January. I honestly cannot believe it is done. Anyway, particulars. First, this an au season three of tvd and season one of spn. The only thing really different in tvd is that Evil!Alaric never told the council about the vampires, so that's not a problem. Everything else that is is relevant to this au for both is covered in the story. Title is from a poem by Anna Akhmatova, I can't for the life of me remember the name of the poem, but it's lovely, so you should definitely check it out. Anyway, enjoy!**

 **Only the Graves Were Fresh**

" _Sometimes people leave you,_

 _Halfway through the wood._

 _Do not let it grieve you,_

 _No one leaves for good._

 _You are not alone._

 _No one is alone."_

 _-Into the Woods_

" _Finale: Children Will Listen"_

When Dean was a teenager they spent a lot of time in Mystic Falls, Virginia. It was a place steeped in supernatural history, so his old man got in good with the town council and checked back in every couple of months.

Dean didn't mind too much, one of the council members had the cutest kid, Elena, who looked at him like he was the greatest thing since cable TV. It was a nice feeling, that whole hero worship thing, but it was the way she did it. She had her own special Elena way of doing things.

See, she was five the first time they met, he was thirteen, and his dad had dragged him to this god-awful barbecue at the town doctor's house, full of the cheerful and friendly townsfolk, and the good doctor just so happened to be her father. So he'd been skulking behind a tree in the backyard, tired of Sam's scholastic yammering, and desperate to get away from that famous southern hospitality that seemed to ooze out of their skin, when this tiny thing fell out of the tree and literally landed in his lap.

Saying he was shocked was like saying the sky was blue. Obviously. Anyway, the kid had a halo of messy dark curls and the biggest, sweetest dark eyes he had ever seen. She looked like an angel. She was momentarily stunned to have landed on someone but seemed to get over it pretty quickly. She grinned, revealing her missing two front teeth and said, "Hi! I'm Elena."

Shocked, he responded, "uh, hey angel, I'm Dean." The little thing had just giggled at him and hopped out of his lap, brushing leaves out of her messy curls before flashing him another disarming grin.

"You wanna play with me, Dean?" she asked sweetly.

And that was that, she'd owned him ever since.

It was a strange friendship; he was eight years older than her and not exactly the nicest kid around, while she was the town darling and sweeter than apple pie. Nevertheless, she adored him and everyone knew he was wrapped around her tiny finger.

Elena had a little brother too—his name was Jeremy and he clearly adored his sister—as well as two little girlfriends named Caroline and Bonnie, and two boys named Tyler and Matt as her playmates. Matt had a sister named Vicki who was only a year older than him. So when Dean was in town, more often than not he was surrounded by his own personal gaggle of adoring fans—all under the age of seven.

He put up with all the other monsters because Elena loved them all so much, and as long as he got to spend time with his favorite girl, he could deal with them.

He indulgently went along with her games; sometimes they were knights, off to rescue the Princess Caroline. Other times they were explorers, searching for the lost Lockwood treasure that Tyler _swore_ was hidden somewhere near the old ruins of the Lockwood house. More often than not Dean felt like a glorified babysitter, dragging Sammy along for the ride. That's the price you pay when one of your favorite people is a five-year-old girl.

But five-year-olds don't stay five, and before he knew it she was six and seven and then _eight_. He was sixteen, and probably too old to hang out with little girls but whatever, Elena wasn't like any other eight-year-old he knew, and he knew _a lot_ (if you counted Elena's friends, that is. Which he did).

Elena was smart—hell, more than smart—she was _wise_. He told her lots of scary stories, twisting their latest hunts into cautionary tales with happy endings because he couldn't bear to ruin her innocence, but he didn't want her to be completely helpless against the monsters in the dark. Still, he kept his silence out of respect for Dr. Gilbert, but somehow Elena knew.

Every time they left for a hunt, Elena would come to say her special goodbye to him. He'd hoist her up into his arms and she'd wind her skinny little arms around his neck and whisper in his ear, "be brave and good and strong, and come back to me, please."

Then she'd bestow a lingering kiss to his cheek, her eyelashes fluttering against his temple in a way that made him feel warm from the inside out. There was nothing in the world like being loved by Elena Gilbert.

He'd never say, but he was always secretly glad that somebody was out there who loved him and wanted him to come home, especially when it was a sweet little girl with mischievous eyes and messy curls.

But not too long after his sixteenth birthday, the Winchesters left Mystic Falls for a hunt, and they didn't come back, not for many years. His father had found a new place that held is attention and the memory of that little Virginia town eventually faded to nothing but his precious memories of Elena.

It had been a long time since he'd last seen her, but he did his best to be brave and good and strong for that little girl who loved him so. Maybe one day he would find his way back to her.

And he did, one dark night on Wickery Bridge, some ten years after he had left the town and that sweet little girl behind.

Little girls do not stay little.

* * *

It was Sam's idea to go to Mystic Falls. Three years was a long time for their father to return to a town, so it seemed as good a place as any to see if anyone still had contact with him or knew where he was or where he might be.

Dean had panicked momentarily, wondering what Elena would think of him, returning to her ten years later than she had expected, when he remembered that she was no longer the little girl he knew and loved. She was eighteen, and he honestly didn't know anything about her anymore. She probably didn't even remember him.

So he had agreed and off they went to Mystic Falls. By the time they arrived it had been dark, and everything seemed bleary from behind his tired eyes. Sam was fast asleep in the front seat, and Dean didn't have the heart to wake him. He needed to find a motel and get some shuteye before he was confronted with the town that was home to one of the few people in the world that he knew loved him. Or at least, she had. It had been ten years. Could a teenager on the cusp of adulthood love someone she had only known as a child?

Shaking the thought from his head, Dean focused on the road as best he could. The familiar sight of Wickery Bridge brought a wistful smile to his face, but a frown quickly replaced it. Something was wrong. There were fresh skid marks on the road and it sent a chill of foreboding down his spine. He pulled over to the side of the road. A jacket and a cellphone lay dropped in a hasty pile, his unease grew.

"Sammy," he said, his voice low but urgent. Instantly Sam awoke, their father's training kicked into hyper drive at the tone of his brother's voice.

"What's up?" Sam asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "We there?" he frowned, glancing around.

"Yeah, Wickery Bridge, something's wrong, gonna check it out," Dean responded concisely, stepping out of the car. Looking at the jacket and phone again, Dean frowned.

The water below the bridge was still and silent. Following his instincts, Dean peeled off his jacket, dropped his phone onto the driver's seat, and dove into the water.

It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, but when they did he saw a truck sitting at the bottom of the lake. A man dragging another man out of the water swam away from the truck. The man saw Dean and frowned, confused, but he gestured frantically at the truck. Dean nodded in understanding. There was still someone in the truck.

He swam to the truck peered through the open door, a young woman with long dark hair was seconds from losing consciousness. He swam in and unbuckled her from the passenger's seat just as she seemed to let go, going limp against him. With a renewed sense of urgency, he pulled her from the truck, using his legs to propel them to the surface.

He took a deep breath as he broke the surface and hauled her toward the shore. Pulling her up onto the pavement he ignored the other man who was pumping at the driver's chest furiously. He focused on the girl, there was something familiar about her face, but he brushed it aside to check for a pulse. It fluttered weakly but surely. He began to administer CPR with clinical proficiency.

The driver came to, coughing and sputtering up water. Sam handed him an emergency blanket from the back of the Impala. Dean continued to focus on the girl, ignoring the feeling of familiarity. Right now, he had to focus on getting her to breathe.

She came to life just as suddenly as the driver, sprawling over his lap to cough up water. Dragging her wet hair away from her face, he alternately patted and rubbed her back soothingly. Eventually she went limp, leaning her cheek against his thigh, breathing hoarsely. Sam handed him another emergency blanket and he wrapped it around her shoulders as best he could.

She sat up and turned to thank him, and he came face to face with those beloved dark, sweet eyes. They were sadder, older, and they lacked the mischievous glint he so adored, but he would recognize those eyes anywhere. Her previous words stuck in her throat. They seemed to be caught in an impasse, he stared into her dark eyes with surprise and distant horror ( _he just saved her life, she almost died, she looked so sad_ ), and she looked at him like he was a ghost ( _it'd been ten years, I almost forgot, he looked like home_ ).

"Elena, you're alive, thank God!" the other boy—the one who hadn't been in the car— said, but even then Elena did not look away from him.

"I thought you were dead," she said at last, her voice gravelly.

"Not yet," he replied automatically, regretting it as soon as it had left his mouth, and even more so when she winced visibly. Still half-hanging over his lap, the emergency blanket pooled around her waist, she tried to maneuver herself into a less awkward position.

When it became clear she was in no shape to comfortably move herself, Dean placed careful hands on her waist and lifted her easily, pulling her to sit in his lap. Grabbing the blanket, he wrapped it around her gently. She didn't make a noise of protest, but instead leaned into him tiredly, her head tucked under his chin. Dean wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her wet hair. It was strange, how little time seemed to have passed since he had last held her in his arms as a little girl who was saying goodbye to her beloved friend. It was stranger still, how much time truly had passed since he had last held her in his arms, more than half her lifetime.

"Elena," the boy said again, "do you know him?" he asked. Elena did not move from Dean's embrace, but she nodded her head.

"He's an old friend," she told him, her eyes closed. Her cold, lithe fingers came creeping out of the blanket to wrap around one of Dean's forearms. Dean relished at the increasing contact points. It was further proof that she alive and there in his arms. He hugged her tighter, closing his eyes.

It was quiet for a moment, until the driver spoke, "Fuck, is that you, Dean?" he wheezed, and Dean opened his eyes, squinting at the younger man. Recognition struck him and he grinned in amusement.

"Little Mattie?" he enquired in bemusement. "Not so little anymore," he observed.

The younger man grinned and nodded. "No shit." Turning to look up at Sam he raised an eyebrow. "Sammy?" he questioned and for once Sam did not correct the nickname and simply nodded.

Elena poked her nose out from her hiding space in the crook of Dean's neck to peer up at Sam with wide eyes. "Hi Sammy," she croaked. Sam smiled down at the girl his brother loved so much.

"Hey Elena," he greeted in a gentle voice. She smiled at him before she turned back to Dean, looking up at him with those eyes.

"Can you take me home, Dean?" she requested in a voice that made her sound all of five-years-old.

"Sure angel," he agreed. "As soon as we get you and Matt looked over at hospital, I don't suppose your dad's office is open now?" he enquired. Elena inhaled sharply, her eyes coming into distinct focus.

"Dean, my dad is dead. He's been dead for over a year. My mom too," she told him. His heart dropped into his gut and he smoothed her hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry, angel," he said, his voice full of tender regret that brought the sting of impending tears to her eyes. "We should still get you two to a hospital, make sure you're all right," he implored. Like a tired child, she nodded her head.

Sliding her off his lap, he stood and then carefully helped her stand. Sam pulled Matt up from the ground, and then, ignoring the other boy, they helped the two teenagers to the car and tucked them into the back seat. Dean grabbed his jacket and tossed it into the car, finally turning to the other boy.

"Do you need a ride somewhere, uh—"Dean paused, wondering if he had missed the younger man's name in the excitement of seeing Elena again.

"Stefan," the boy supplied, shaking his head, "I'm a friend of Elena's, my car's not too far from here. I'll be fine."

Dean nodded his head, and got in the car. He glanced at the rearview mirror, making eye contact with a shivering Elena. She was an orphan now. Silently he wondered how much more of her life he had missed. There was missing years of her life, and then there was missing all the defining moments in between. How many had he missed?

He looked away and started the car. As they drove away, he looked in the rearview mirror again, this time out at the bridge. He frowned. The bridge was empty. Stefan was gone.

* * *

Besides a few scrapes and bruises, Elena and Matt walked away from the accident relatively unscathed, a miracle by all standards. The doctor on staff, Meredith Fell, insisted rather intensely that she keep them for a mandated twelve hours to make sure that no lung problems developed.

She'd asked Dean if Elena's heart had stopped even for a moment at least a dozen times, her eyes bright with nerves, and had only relaxed when he responded with a resounding no, no matter how she phrased the question.

At last she left them in a private room, courtesy of the hospital's continued respect for the deceased Dr. Gilbert. They'd barely settled in when a frantic blonde came bursting in, two bags slung over her shoulder and tear tracks down her face. When she caught sight of Matt and Elena she burst into fresh sobs and practically tackled Elena in her bed, bags and all.

"Ohmygod Elena! Everyone is so worried, we thought you were—I mean, Stefan told us you weren't but I had to see you to make sure—I am so glad you're okay," the blonde babbled. Elena patted her on the back awkwardly

"'M fine, Care," she said, her voice muffled by the mass of blonde hair in her face. Dean felt the corners of his mouth lift up involuntarily. Caroline, he remembered Caroline. She hadn't changed much. The part of Elena's face that Dean could see was tight with pain. He frowned.

"Uh, Caroline? Maybe you should ease up; I think you're hurting her." Dean said. Instantly the blonde sprang back, eyes wide with fear. Elena smiled at him gratefully.

"I'm fine Care, just a little sore is all," she assured her friend. Caroline slowly lowered her bags to the ground and moved to sit at the end of Elena's hospital bed. She looked over at Matt, too wary of hurting him to give him the same treatment. Matt read the expression on her face and answered her unasked question.

"I'm fine, Caroline," he said and she relaxed a little. She settled her hand on Elena's ankle and squeezed it, reassuring herself that her friend was really there.

"I'm so glad you're both okay—when Stefan called—I thought—"she broke off, unable to continue.

"We're fine, Care," Elena reassured her again. The blonde sniffed but nodded her head. She gestured at the bags on the floor.

"I brought you both clothes, stuff for tomorrow and tonight, hospital gowns are _so_ gross." She sniffed again, but this time out of offense at the hideous, scratchy hospital gowns. Elena and Matt laughed appreciatively and thanked her. Suddenly, her eyes were focused on Dean.

"You look familiar, and you know my name," she observed. She looked to Elena for further information.

"It's Dean," Elena told her. The blonde widened her eyes but grinned when she turned back to look at him.

"You're the one who saved Elena?" she squealed. Dean warily nodded his head. Elena laughed at her again. She looked over at Sam.

"Oh my god, it's Sammy!" she exclaimed, and once again, Sam didn't correct her, instead he simply nodded his head. Her face, covered in half dried tears, was full glee. She looked over at Dean again, her face full of mischief.

"You're Elena's favorite person," she told him and Elena rolled her eyes. Dean bit at his cheek to hide is satisfied smile. Sam caught the movement and rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his brother's delight.

"When I was eight!" Elena protested her cheeks full of rosy color. Caroline looked him up and down.

"Well eight-year-old Elena has good taste." Caroline grinned at him just as Elena reached out to pinch her wrist. "Ouch!" Caroline protested, but she was still grinning. She looked at Elena. "I'm just saying, _good_ taste," she insisted, giggling slightly. Dean couldn't hold back anymore, he grinned at Elena who glared at him.

"Not now, Caroline," Elena insisted through clenched teeth. Caroline ignored her.

"Sor- _ry_ ," she drawled, "but it's true." Elena pinched her wrist again. "Ouch!" This time Caroline cradled her wrist to her chest and glared at her.

"You have very sharp nails," she hissed, rubbing her wrist. Elena glared back.

"Yeah, well you have very sharp te—"she cut herself off, glancing warily at the brothers. "Tongue. You have a very sharp tongue," she finished lamely. "And a big mouth to match," she added through clenched teeth. The boys laughed at the girls' exchange. Caroline flashed Elena a toothy grin and Elena glared back at her.

"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asked after a moment. Caroline's eyes flickered over to the brothers cautiously before she answered. Dean frowned; they all seemed to be watching what they said.

"He's at home, Stefan's with him though, we didn't want to overcrowd you," Caroline said carefully, her eyes darting over towards the brothers again. Elena nodded in understanding, looking over at Sam and Dean again before she spoke.

"That's good," she said quietly. "Has anyone seen…" she trailed off, her eyes flickering over to the brothers again. Dean raised an eyebrow. The half-finished sentences and carefully thought out replies was doing nothing for his nerves. Something was going on, and Elena clearly didn't want them to know.

"Uh no," Caroline replied. "Damon went after him," she added. "We didn't think it was a good idea to tell Damon about the accident, considering his track record and all." Elena laughed without mirth. Dean pondered who this 'him' was. Sam gave him a skeptical look, and Dean silently agreed. There was something very strange going on here. Maybe not their kind of strange, but strange enough to warrant concern, especially because it was Elena.

"That probably wouldn't have been a good idea," she agreed. "Thank you." Caroline smiled at her.

"No problem," she chirped. "Don't worry about anything else, we have it all under control. I even convinced my mom to wait until the morning to question you about the accident. You two just get some rest." Matt laughed at her enthusiastic orders while Elena just gave her a sleepy smile.

"Thanks Care, you're the best." Elena yawned and Caroline leaned forward to kiss both her cheeks.

"Get some rest, Lena," she said against her cheek. "I'll be around if you need me," she whispered in her ear, too low for anyone else to hear. Caroline left her perch on Elena's bed and gave Matt a careful hug before turning to face the Winchesters.

"Dean, Sammy, nice to see you again," she said with a bright smile. Both brothers smiled back at her.

"Nice to see you too, Caroline," Sammy said warmly. Caroline looked back at Elena and gave Dean a meaningful wink that made him laugh, and with that she left the room. Elena yawned again and then dragged the bag from the end of her bed to cradle it to her chest.

"I call bathroom first," she declared and Matt groaned in defeat. Slowly, she started to pull off the scratchy blankets that had been heaped upon her at her arrival. When she groaned, Dean came over to help her, grasping her elbow and gently pulling her to her feet. She smiled at him and it caught him off guard for a second. She was really gorgeous.

"Thanks," she said softly. Dumbly, he nodded. She disappeared into the tiny hospital bathroom on silent feet. He shook his head, feeling foolish. Somehow, the little girl he used to babysit had become the only woman who could make him act like an idiot. When he turned around, Sam and Matt were both smirking at him knowingly. He glared back and they both laughed.

"Shut up," he muttered grouchily. It only made them laugh harder. When Elena came out she gave him a bemused little grin and suddenly it didn't seem so bad. Matt took his turn in the bathroom and then they all simply sat and stared at each other.

Dean considered interrogating them about their secretive conversations, but after a shared glance with Sam and a quick headshake from the former, Dean decided against it. They'd both had a long day; it could wait until morning.

Instead he raided the vending machine down the hall and brought back his bounty for the two irritable teenagers under observation.

Neither one of them wanted to be there, but memories of the brothers' stubborn protectiveness kept them from arguing with the Winchesters. Instead they munched on their stale vending machine snacks and chatted quietly. Every couple of seconds Elena's eyes would flicker over to Dean, studying him intently before they settled back on Matt.

Eventually Matt fell asleep and Sam began to doze in his chair. Elena locked eyes with Dean intentionally and scooted over to the side of her bed, patting the space beside her. Feeling foolish again, Dean made his way to her bed and lay down beside her, his arm cushioned behind his head. Elena curled into his side, and after a moment of hesitation he wrapped his free arm around her. She laid her cheek on his chest, her hands coming to rest on his stomach. She felt odd fitted into his side, her body curvy and warm—not a little girl anymore.

Looking up at him with those damned dark eyes, she murmured, "hello," in her sweet voice, still gravelly from coughing up water.

"Hey," he responded, looking down at her tenderly.

"You're here," she stated simply.

"Yeah," he nodded, unsure of how to respond.

"I used to dream you'd come back, but then the more time passed and the less it seemed likely, and just when I stopped believing, here you are," she said, her voice small and bewildered.

"I guess I owe you some kind of explanation, huh?" he said uneasily.

"You don't owe me anything," she replied bitterly.

Seeing right through her words, Dean pulled her closer. "I promise, I'll tell you everything, Elena, just get some rest."

She looked doubtful, but nodded anyway and closed her eyes. He was surprised to find that he was telling the truth in a way; he did want to tell her everything. He knew he couldn't tell her everything, but he wanted to. Remembering what she'd told him on the bridge—her parents were dead—he found himself softly stroking her back with the tips of his fingers. She relaxed against him, humming appreciatively.

"I'm sorry, for your loss," he whispered a couple minutes later, unsure if she was still awake. She tensed. Her eyes fluttered open, and then she smiled in a terrible way he had thought her incapable of.

"Which one?" she quipped. She closed her eyes, effectively ending the conversation.

The implication that she might have lost more than her parents left a bitter taste in his mouth. He frowned. Was life really so unfair that it would take more than just her parents from her? And at such a young age? The missing stories made him uncomfortable, he felt like an intruder in her life, like someone who didn't belong anymore. Maybe he didn't.

He thought of the strange circumstances of the accident earlier that night, the strange boy, Stefan, who just so happened to be near enough to save Matt but had vanished so quickly when they were driving away. Why had they swerved off the road in the first place? There was more to the story, and Dean was going to find out what exactly it was.

Stranger still was this girl curled into his embrace. She was foreign to him, practically a stranger and utterly beautiful, but also hauntingly familiar. He had left a little girl and returned to find a changeling girl-woman had taken her place. Yet just when he thought he didn't know her at all, she'd look at him with those eyes he'd had memorized for thirteen years and it felt like there was nothing he didn't know about her. But there were secrets brimming in those eyes: heartbreak and wariness, and a kind of maturity that only came from life being unbearably hard. He had hoped that life would always be kind to her.

Elena shifted and her hair spilled over his chest, dark and tangled, exposing her elegant neck. Stark white against her tan skin were the overlapping scars of multiple bite marks.

Life had not been kind to her.

* * *

The scars kept him awake for most of the night. His vision narrowed down to the uneven pattern, he stared at them so long that he could discern at least four different sets of teeth.

He tried to remain calm; there were plenty of rational (if not kinky) reasons for those scars to be there on her neck. He tried not to imagine the worst possibility. That couldn't be her life. It couldn't.

He meant to ask as soon as she woke up, but just when she started to wake up the Sheriff came to take their statements about the accident.

Liz Forbes had given Dean a hard look, searching for a memory of him, when Elena had supplied his name in a croaking voice, and instantly the Sheriff's eyes had flashed in recognition. He'd nodded respectfully and then she turned her gaze back to Matt and Elena.

Matt told her that a cat had run out into the road in front of them and he'd reacted without thinking. Elena had backed him up with a blank-eyed smile and a docile nod. She'd parroted his story with just enough variation ( _she wasn't sure it was a cat, it could've been a dog or a raccoon_ ) to prevent suspicion.

There were gaps in their story, but none big enough to raise alarm, the normal gaps that came with being young and inexperienced drivers so the Sheriff was done with them relatively quickly. Dean and Sam told her their part of the story and then she was leaving.

The inconsistencies were enough to give Dean pause, so he followed her out into the hallway, calling her name in a low but urgent voice. She turned instantly giving him a tense smile.

"Mr. Winchester," she addressed him tensely.

He shot her a look. "Dean," he corrected her shortly and she nodded. "How involved is she?" he asked shortly.

Her face turned white and she sputtered, "I'm sorry?"

"How much of it does she know about? Is she involved in the council?" he snapped, questions hurdling through his brain at warp speed. She started to shake her head and opened her mouth to deny it but he cut her off.

"I just spent the whole night staring at bite shaped scars on her neck, so cut the crap and tell me: how involved is she?" he demanded. She closed her mouth. After a moment, she opened it again.

"She's not involved in the council, not directly. But she knows about the vampires, and werewolves, witches. She doesn't know that your family has anything to do with it. Whatever involvement she's had with the vampires, it's up to her to tell you. But I'll warn you, it's not a pretty story, from what I know."

He nodded and went back to the hospital room without another word. It was time he and Elena talked.

When he entered the room, Dr. Fell had just begun informing Matt and Elena that they were free to go home. They had both changed into the other set of clothing Caroline had packed for them. Elena laughed a ragged little laugh that bit into his chest like barbed wire, and nodded her head when the doctor asked to speak to her alone.

Dean leaned against the wall, next to the door, and Elena's hair brushed his shoulder when she followed Dr. Fell out into the hall.

The room was silent without the uniting presence of Elena. Dean and Sam had all but babysat Matt as a child, but they'd always firmly been in the realm of people that belonged to Elena Gilbert. Matt got to borrow them by virtue of being Elena's best friend, but the brothers did not have a vested interest in his life. Without Elena in the room, there was nothing to say.

Dean met Sam's eyes and silent understanding passed between them, Sam might not have seen the scars, but he knew that whatever had happened here was far from a run-of-the-mill car accident. Whatever it was, they could handle it; it was their job after all.

Dean could hear the murmur of the doctor and Elena's voice but not the words they spoke until a sharp gasp emitted from one of their throat's—Elena's, he thought. Then a single, strangled, disbelieving word slipped through the door crack, octaves higher than the rest.

" _What?"_

It was Elena's voice.

She returned to the room alone. Dr. Fell headed down the hall; Dean could see the guilty expression on her face as she passed the room. Elena's face was pale. Instead of entering the room, she stopped in the doorway, inches from Dean, leaned heavily against the doorframe, and stared at the wall in front of her.

"Elena, are you okay?" Matt asked, concerned for his friend. Dean closed the few inches between them, pulling her weight from the doorframe to rest against him. Still staring at the wall, she let her body sink into his embrace. For a moment, they stood like that, Matt's question hanging in the air. Dean could feel tiny tremors running through her body and the clenching of her muscles as she fought to suppress them.

Shaking her head, she gently pushed herself out of his embrace and straightened her spine. She raised her chin and met Matt's eye dead on.

"I'm fine."

She smiled, as if the previous moment had never happened. The pale, shaken girl was gone so quickly; it was hard to believe that she had ever existed at all.

Matt gave her a doubtful look and Elena cocked her head and smiled sadly.

"I'm fine, Matt," she promised, "Meredith just wanted to know if I was all right, everyone knows how intense being on that bridge is for me," she reminded him, and he winced in sympathy.

"What happened to you on that bridge?" Dean asked, speaking for the first time since she reentered the room. She looked at him, her face carefully blank.

"That's where my parents died, it was a car accident" she told him, "I was in the backseat," she added.

There aren't words for that, so he simply nodded. He thought about her trembling voice from the hallway.

 _'What?'_

She lied.

"Can we go home now?" she asked, her voice weary to the bone.

Dean recalled all the careful wording and secretive glances between the two teenagers, and decided that it was now or never.

"Actually no, not yet."

Elena looked up at him, startled. "You need to tell us what's really going on, and then we'll take you home," he said with firm resolve.

Elena glanced over at Matt, and then went to sit on the end of the hospital bed, Matt moving to sit next to her. He stared at his shoes and Elena met Dean's gaze with a careful expression.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Sam came to stand beside his brother and Dean crossed his arms over his chest, Elena's expression did not waver. "Why is your neck covered in bite shaped scars?" he asked bluntly. Her hand jumped up unconsciously, her fingers lingering on the scars. Despite unintentionally drawing attention to the aforementioned scars, she kept calm with remarkable ease. Her expression barely faltered before she dipped her head to the side and raised her eyebrows at him.

"I don't kiss and tell," she drawled, Matt looked at her as if she was someone else entirely and Sam sputtered beside him but Dean didn't even flinch. For a second, her eyes had sparked with a mischievous challenge. She had looked bright and daring and so like the little girl he'd known, but it had faded quickly. Once again she was the stranger: tired, but stronger than the tide that pressed against her.

"Elena," he said his tone rife with warning. Elena stared at him for a long time, utterly silent. He held her gaze, uncertain of what challenge he had to face, but determined to meet it.

The silence stretched on, so he tried a new tactic.

"You remember those stories I used to tell you?" he asked. Something flickered in the darkness of her eyes and a slow, slinking smile slid across her face, making her look almost _predatory_.

"Yes, I remember." She nodded, the smile still on her face, a smile that was both foreign to her pretty features, and perfectly at ease, as if the smile belonged to the face, but not to the girl.

"What if I told you, that all those stories—to a certain extent—were true?" He spoke carefully, and he was surprised when the smile turned into a sneer.

"I know," she said, as he'd thought she would.

"So tell me what you know."

"I was eight-years-old when you left, Dean. It's been a long time, and I've got a lot of secrets. Most of them aren't mine to tell," she told him, something unbearably sad in her eyes. It was a jarring juxtaposition, the sneering mouth and sad eyes. She looked as if she was trying to be two different girls all at once, unsure which one would serve her purpose better.

"So tell me what you can," he said.

The sneer faded from her face until there was only the sadness in her dark eyes. She studied him, face unreadable, and then she began to speak.

"You always told the best stories. Ones with monsters and heroes and pretty, _pretty_ endings."

He flinched; her words sounding more like an accusation than anything else.

She continued on as if he hadn't reacted at all, "You never told me about how many people died along the way. How lonely it is, to live this kind of life, but then again, you probably never thought this was going to be my life—I certainly didn't." She laughed, bitter and low.

"Turns out we were both suckers. I was _destined_ for this life. It was pre-ordained that everything Elena Gilbert touched would die. Sit down; get comfortable, this time, I'll tell you a story. I'll tell you the story of the Petrova doppelgangers." Beside her, Matt sat silently, his face solemn. Dean shared a glance with Sam, they both sat down, like she told them to, and she began her story.

* * *

"So Jenna's ex-boyfriend is an invincible vampire hunter who is also a vampire?" Dean asked as he paced the length of the hospital room.

"Yes, but he's not exactly invincible, if I die, he dies," Elena explained, Dean shot her a dirty look, making it clear that she wasn't allowed to talk about her dying.

"And that's why another vampire, one from the original family of vampires—" he paused, looked over at them.

"Rebekah," Matt supplied helpfully. Dean gave him a thankful nod.

"That's why Rebekah tried to kill you last night?" He finished. Elena nodded. He continued to pace.

"And Damon, a civil war era vampire went after Alaric, to—?" Sam asked, trailing off. Elena looked at Matt, and then shrugged.

"Honestly, we have no idea what he's trying to do. He's Damon, sometimes he does dumb things," Elena said.

"By sometimes she means always," Matt added, and Elena snorted.

"And Rebekah is the sister of Klaus, the vampire-werewolf who sacrificed you and Jenna to unleash his werewolf side?" Dean questioned, still pacing.

"Yes, they're a pretty bloodthirsty family, shocker," Elena joked. Dean didn't laugh. Matt and Elena exchanged a worried glance, but Sam gave them a reassuring look. As far as he was concerned, Dean was handling this pretty well.

Until Dean locked Elena in a tower far away from all the dangerous, terrible creatures that wanted to kill her, Sam was going to consider his reactions to be pretty reasonable.

(There was a small part of him that didn't think locking her in a tower was a terrible idea, but he dismissed it pretty quickly. He didn't think she'd be okay with that.)

"So Damon's still after Alaric?" Sam asked.

"I don't actually know," Elena admitted. "Caroline might know," Elena suggested, then pitched her voice louder to call for her friend. "Caroline!" The pretty blonde popped her head through the door only seconds after being called.

"You rang?" she chirped, looking perfectly coifed. Casually she strolled into the room and plopped down next to Elena. Dean and Sam stared at her.

"How long have you been listening?" Sam asked incredulously. Caroline gave him her patented Miss Mystic Falls smile.

"Since I left last night," she said. Dean stopped pacing to look at her, and she schooled her face into her most innocent look, the one she used on him when she was six. "I didn't hear any of that incredibly private conversation you had with Elena," she promised solemnly. He glared and Elena reached over to pinch her wrist again.

"Ouch!" Caroline pouted. Elena smiled serenely.

"Where's Damon?" She asked. Rubbing her tender wrist, Caroline responded.

"He's back at the house, he lost Alaric somewhere around Connecticut. Stefan's keeping him from barging in here," Caroline reported. Elena nodded.

"So you're a—" Dean started.

"Vampire?" Caroline finished. "Yup." She nodded her head and flashed them her fangs. Veiny, blood pooled eyes and all. Both brothers stared.

"Ummm," Sam responded, glancing over at Elena worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm a good vampire, I do charity work," Caroline assured them. To be safe, she let her fangs retract, smiling reassuringly. Both brothers still looked uneasy.

"Caroline has the best control of any vampire I know," Elena jumped in. The brother's exchanged another look.

"Uh, how old are you?" Sam asked. Caroline raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sam, you've known me since I was six. I don't look that much older than Elena, I can't be that old." Elena nudged her ranting friend and gave her a look. Caroline rolled her eyes but answered the original question.

"Let's see, I was changed at the end of February, it's the beginning of November now, so that makes me like, eight months old," she told them. Dean started pacing again.

"I'm basically the prodigal vampire," she bragged. Elena and Matt laughed.

Sam changed the subject

"So you have an evil doppelganger?" He arched his eyebrow at Elena.

"Katherine," Elena offered, as if he'd forgotten her name.

"Huh," he said.

"Yup," she agreed. Dean groaned.

"And uh—Klaus?—needs your blood to make more hybrids?" he quizzed. Elena pursed her lips.

"Yes," she said.

"But he tried to kill you so Alaric wouldn't be able to kill him and his family?" He looked confused now.

"Yes," she repeated. "But he might be dead? I have no idea; I'm kind of behind on the news, with the whole almost dying thing." She turned to look at Caroline questioningly. Caroline winced.

"That is very complicated. Bonnie called. Basically, Klaus is in Tyler's body," she summed up, looking very upset. Sam considered pacing with Dean.

"Oh," Elena said simply.

"Fuck," Matt whispered.

"Basically," Caroline agreed grumpily. Dean stopped pacing.

"What did the doctor tell you this morning?" Dean asked Elena. She gulped.

"So you know the part where Klaus tried to kill me, Tyler rescued me and I hit my head and then passed out painting Jenna's old room?" Dean winced but nodded. She continued.

"Basically Meredith gave me vampire blood to heal me without telling anyone and if you hadn't shown up to pull me out of the water, I'd probably be transitioning into a vampire right now."

Everyone stared at her.

"I must've been on the phone with Bonnie when she told you that," Caroline said, blue eyes wide.

"You can't stay here," Dean said flatly.

"Well, yeah, it's a hospital, who would want to stay here?" Elena replied casually, glancing around the room with distaste.

"No," Dean shook his head. "I mean you can't stay here in this town," he clarified. Sam nodded in agreement; Caroline reeled back in her seat but Matt didn't disagree. He'd been driving her away from the town the night before. Elena blinked.

"Where else would I go?" Elena asked slowly, her face carefully composed.

"With us," Dean replied as if it was obvious.

"Oh," she said dumbly. "What about Jeremy?"

"He's coming too," Dean said.

"Oh," she said again. She quietly absorbed what he just said, and then she got mad.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, they pulled up in front of the Gilbert house, with Caroline, Matt, and Sam squeezed into the back of the Impala. Elena was in the front seat, still arguing with driver, Dean.

"You can't just barge back into my life after ten years and force me and my brother to leave our home to traipse around the country with you and your brother," Elena said, trying her best to keep her voice level. Dean ignored what she said.

"You should start packing, I recommend taking only what you absolutely can't live without out, the trunk space is limited," he told her matter-of-factly. Elena let out a hiss of resentment and swore at him under her breath. He got out of the car. Caroline rolled her eyes and Matt nodded in agreement. Sam simply followed his brother out of the car.

While Elena was continuing her private slam session, Matt and Caroline got out of the car.

"So who's all here?" Dean asked Caroline, gesturing to the house.

"The better question is who isn't here," she informed him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who isn't here?" he asked. Caroline considered it for a second.

"Alaric, Tyler, Klaus. Or should I say Klaus-Tyler? Tyler-Klaus?" She looked at Matt and he shrugged.

"Yeah, how are you doing with that?" Sam asked, concerned. "Elena mentioned you're with Tyler."

"Me? I'm just _peachy_ ," Caroline replied bitterly. Sam gave her a sympathetic smile. Dean turned back to the Impala, where Elena was still in the front seat.

"Are you gonna get out of the car, or do I have to carry you, Elena Gilbert?" He demanded archly. She glared, but got out of the car. He smiled. "Done with your fit?"

Her nostrils flared, and she bawled her hand into a fist. Caroline dove in front of her.

"Mother-f—" Caroline slammed her hand over Elena's mouth and gave her a nasty look.

"Elena, find your happy place," she hissed. "I know you trained with Ric and Damon but violence will not solve anything." Elena gave her a disbelieving look.

"Okay so sometimes violence solves some things," Caroline conceded, dropping her hand from Elena's mouth. "Regardless, it's not going to make you feel any better if you hit Dean."

"Maybe if I hit him, he'll stop acting like what I do with my life is his decision," she said through clenched teeth. Dean huffed.

"Elena, it's not safe for you to stay here, unless someone can find a way to unlink you and Alaric, you are the only way to kill the man who is dead set on destroying the entire vampire race, as soon as that gets out, that entire vampire race will be coming after you, and this is the first place they'll look," Dean said, sounding closer to pleading than Sam had heard his brother sound in a very long time.

Elena glared at him, but made no move to lunge at him, so Caroline let her go.

"It's not your decision," she said again.

"I am trying to save your life," he said as calmly as he could, hoping she would see reason. Her face turned to stone.

"There are plenty of people trying to save my life, and most of them have failed at least once," she spat and Caroline flinched. Elena glared at Dean but he didn't shy away from the fury in her eyes.

"Maybe that's because none of them were willing to give you up to keep you safe," Dean pointed out.

"And you are?" Elena spit out, brushing past him to the porch behind him.

"I already did that, when I was sixteen," he replied. She stopped. "I thought you'd be better off without me, so when Dad didn't have any plans to come around here, I didn't say anything. I went along with it, because I thought it was better for you," he explained. She turned around, and strode back toward him, her whole body shaking.

"All I'm hearing is that someone else I _loved_ and _trusted_ made a decision for me without my consent. That was an awful thing to do to that little girl who loved you," she said, and then she turned back and went into the house.

After a moment, Caroline and Matt moved to follow her. At the front steps, Caroline stopped and turned back to Dean.

"She's had a lot of things taken away from her in the past couple of years," she said. "A lot of her choices were taken away from her," she told him. "I think what she wants most is the freedom to choose for herself."

Dean looked down at his shoes, shamed by an eight-month old vampire.

"I hate the idea of not seeing her every day, I'd miss her so much, but I think you have the right idea," she admitted. "I think you just have to let it be her decision." With that, she followed her friends into the house.

"She's right," Sam said, and Dean looked back at him with tired eyes. "You have the right idea, you're just going about it the wrong way, let it be her choice." Dean clenched his jaw, a mulish look on his face. Sam shrugged his shoulders and went into the house as well, leaving Dean alone in the front yard.

Dean ran his hand over his face and through his hair and then followed his brother into the house. When he got through the front door he barely noticed the strange boy—Stefan—from the night before, a pretty black girl who could only be Bonnie, a tall, dark haired teenager that must've been Jeremy, because Elena was standing in the middle of the hallway, toe to toe with a dark-haired man, while they screamed at each other.

"THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT YOU ARE LEAVING," the man who could only be Damon yelled. Well clearly someone had been eavesdropping.

"THAT'S NOT YOUR DECISION, DAMON," Elena yelled back. Dean glanced warily around at everyone, but they all seemed bored with the exception of Sam, who looked like he had just walked into a war zone. That honestly wasn't too far off from what he'd actually walked into.

"THE HELL IT'S NOT, I AM TRYING TO KEEP YOU SAFE."

"Should we be trying to break them up?" Dean asked Stefan. The vampire shook his head.

"It's better to let them get it out of their system," he explained.

"O-kay," Dean said skeptically.

"YEAH WELL YOU'VE FAILED PRETTY SPECTACULARILY AT THAT," Elena screamed. Damon reeled back as if she had hit him and she gave him a grimly satisfied smile. "If I decide to go it's _my_ choice, if I decide to stay it's _my_ choice," she enunciated, chin jutted out defiantly.

"I don't need to be saved anymore, Damon, I make the decisions about my safety from now on," she said simply. She went upstairs.

Damon wiped the angry spittle from his mouth and glared after her. Dean moved to follow her upstairs and the volatile vampire's attention snapped over to him. His angry glare focused on him.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"To apologize," Dean said. Damon blinked.

"So you're trying to get on her good side so you can convince her that your idea is a good one," Damon accused. Dean sighed.

"No, I am going to apologize because I was wrong," Dean explained slowly. "It's her choice, and I shouldn't have acted like it wasn't," he said.

"Dickhead," he added under his breath as he continued up the stairs to Elena's room. From below, he heard someone snicker, probably Jeremy or Matt.

"Who the hell is he?" Damon asked, as if it had just occurred to him that he had no idea who Dean was.

"Elena's favorite person," Caroline and Jeremy answered in unison. Dean slipped into Elena's room and shut the door before Damon could formulate a reply.

"Hey," he said simply. Just like he'd suspected, she was curled up on her window seat, staring out the window, her cheeks still red with anger. At his greeting she turned to look at him.

"Hi," she responded warily.

"You don't have to come with us," he said, moving to sit on the other end of the window seat. "You could stay here. I just want you to be safe, and I can't exactly say that what we do is safer than here. I'm sorry I made it seem like you have no choice in the matter," he apologized. Elena gave him a tiny smile.

"It's okay, I'm pretty sure anywhere is safer than here," she admitted. "I know you're just worried. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have said what I said on the porch, I know you didn't do any of it to hurt me on purpose," she added.

"I really was just trying to look out for you," he promised. She smiled.

"I know," she said. "It's kind of a lot to take in, the whole cursed doppelganger thing." She let out a dry little laugh and he chuckled too.

" A little bit, yeah," he admitted. "If staying is what you need to do, then I guess I can't argue with that." She blinked in astonishment, and he remembered what Caroline had told him on the porch. How a lot of Elena's choices had been taken away from her, and he felt like an asshole for not asking her to come with them instead of telling.

"Really?" she asked in a small voice. He gave her a wry smile and nodded.

"You always have a choice, angel," he assured her. "This is your life, I'm not gonna take that away from you," he promised. "If this is where you want to be, then it's not my job to force you away."

"Thank you, Dean," she said, her smile small and grateful.

"No problem, angel," he said with a crooked smile. He then leaned forward and took her hands in his. "Just so you know, no one has a right to keep you here either," he told her; she looked down at her lap. "Any time, you can call me and tell me you want to leave Mystic Falls and I'll come get you," he promised, squeezing her hands gently.

"Can I think about it? Just until tomorrow?" she requested. He nodded.

"Sure," he agreed.

He let her fingers slip from his grip as he stood up. He leaned forward, one hand gently cradling her head, and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the side of her head. She leaned into the gesture with a whispery sigh. Finally, he straightened, his hand sliding down her neck and through her silky hair, and gave her one last smile. She returned his smile and he left her alone with her thoughts.

* * *

It was unanimously decided that no one was leaving the Gilbert house until Elena made her decision. It was safer for everyone. Well, almost everyone. Damon wanted to kill Dean. Dean would like to see him try. Everyone tried to keep busy and away from Elena's room, giving her room to decide.

Jeremy made his preference known by starting to pack. He would only leave if Elena did, but he wanted to be prepared, just in case. Sides were quickly taken, and the group's decision was almost unanimous. Dean and Sam were very obviously for Elena and Jeremy coming with them.

Caroline was unhappy about it, but she clearly thought it was better for Elena to leave. Matt was firmly on Team Get the Fuck Out of Mystic Falls. Bonnie, unsurprisingly, felt about the same as Caroline. She didn't want Elena to go, but she knew it was for the best.

Surprisingly, even Stefan was for Elena leaving—albeit reluctantly, very reluctantly.

Damon was the only hold out. He stubbornly refused to believe that Elena would be better off away from her friends, away from her home.

In the end, it didn't matter what anyone else wanted, it was entirely up to Elena. It was—as she'd said—her choice. No matter what anyone else thought was best, only Elena could make the decision to leave Mystic Falls behind.

While they waited for her to make a decision, Sam and Dean re-introduced themselves to Elena's nearest and dearest. Bonnie told them about discovering her heritage and learning how to control her magic. Caroline talked about becoming a vampire and how terrifying it was to be killed by someone who looked exactly like one of her oldest friends. Matt told them about losing Vicki and finding out he was dating a vampire. Jeremy talked about a vampire named Anna and what it felt like to come back from the dead.

The brothers listened with the superimposed focus they all remembered from their childhood. They both regretted that they wouldn't be able to catch up with Tyler—seeing as he was currently possessed by an immortal douchebag.

When Dean told them why they were in Mystic Falls in the first place, Caroline called her mom and requested that she ask around amongst the council to see if anyone had any recent contact with their father. She promised to call as soon as she had anything.

For dinner they ordered pizza, and everyone ended up in the dining room. Halfway through the meal, Elena emerged from her room. It didn't take heightened vampire senses to hear the soft pad of Elena's feet as she came down the stairs. Instead of coming into the dining room, she slipped out the kitchen doors and into the backyard. Caroline slipped a piece of pizza onto a plate and slid it over to Dean. There was an unspoken agreement that Dean would be the unofficial official speaker for the group.

Everyone knew Elena was more likely to listen to him than anyone else, anyway. Even Stefan could see it. Damon just flat out refused to see it. Dean took the pizza and followed Elena out into the backyard. He found her curled up at the base of the old tree they'd met under all those years ago. He sat down next to her, handing off the pizza. She took it gratefully. He leaned against the trunk, their arms touching. She leaned against him.

He put his chin on her shoulder and looked up at her. She was staring up at the night sky, chewing slowly, deep in thought.

"You ever wonder why I call you angel?" he asked suddenly. She looked down at him, his chin was still propped on her shoulder so her nose skimmed his forehead and he laughed breathlessly at the ticklish sensation. Her lips curved up. He removed his chin from his shoulder so he could see all of her face.

"Because of my angelic countenance?" she guessed. He laughed loudly.

"Countenance? You using your fancy SAT vocabulary on me, Gilbert?" he teased and she giggled.

"How very astute of you, Winchester," she teased back. He rolled his eyes at her.

"No, not because of that," he continued, switching back to their original topic. "Because the first time I met you, you fell out of the sky," he said with a smirk. She stared at him.

"I fell out of a tree—this tree." She pointed up. He poked her in the cheek and she blinked in astonishment.

"Will you let me finish?" he said testily. She grinned in bemusement.

"Fine, I'm shutting my mouth," she promised, taking a bite of her pizza.

"You fell out of the sky, right into my lap, and from that moment on, it felt like I had someone on my team who wasn't my dad or my brother, no familial obligations involved. I was a fucked up kid," he admitted, "but you always told me to be brave and good and strong. In a lot of ways, I owe all my best parts to you," he confessed with an awkward shrug. "You were my guardian angel. I knew I could get through every hunt because someone out there in the world cared if I came home at all," he said.

"I also told you to come back to me," she said softly, the barest hint of reproach in her voice. He gave her a nod of recognition but then looked straight into her eyes.

"I came back, didn't I?" he challenged. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're late," she rebuffed flatly. He laughed.

"I'm sorry about that, punctuality has never been my strong suit," he admitted. This time, she laughed.

"So what was the point of that whole little speech?" she asked, putting her empty plate on the ground. He shrugged.

"Just thought you should know what you mean to me," he said. Elena raised an eyebrow at him.

"This is possibly the sappiest you've ever been, Dean," she teased. He shrugged again.

"Or the most honest," he contradicted. She nodded in acknowledgment. After a moment she leaned her head onto his shoulder and stared back up at the sky. They sat in silence for the next half hour before Elena called it a night and went back up to her room to mull things over.

When Dean followed her in a couple minutes later, everyone was seated in the living room, some movie playing in the background. The expressions on everyone's faces told him that no one was really watching. Sam gave him a knowing smirk and Dean couldn't resist cuffing him in the back of the head. It didn't wipe the expression off his face. Damon glowered him, but Dean just ignored him.

* * *

Without Elena, sleeping arrangements fell to Jeremy. Nobody wanted to sleep in the master bedroom or Jenna's half painted room, so it quickly became an issue of space. Jeremy insisted that Bonnie and Caroline share his bed, which left the couches and living room floor between himself, Matt, the Salvatores, and the Winchesters.

It was easily decided that they would sleep in shifts, since vampires didn't need that much sleep and Dean and Sam had been trained to function on very little sleep from an early age. Jeremy and Matt were given the couches and ordered to sleep on them all night. On this one thing, both Winchesters and Salvatores agreed.

Dean and Sam took the free floor space first, leaving Damon and Stefan to stay on alert for any surprise visits from Alaric or Klaus and his kin.

Eventually, Stefan drifted off in the big armchair, leaving only Damon awake when Elena wandered down for a glass of water. She stopped when she saw him, and he raised his hands up in a gesture of peace. With her eyes on him, she got herself a glass and filled it, slipping into the dining room. He followed her in, ready to speak his piece. She cut him off before he began, her decision already made.

"I want to leave Mystic Falls, Damon," she said. He shook his head.

"You're letting him get into your head, Elena," he told her pityingly. "Mystic Falls is your home" She frowned.

"Is it?" She questioned. "Because lately it feels like a place I'm chained to, like a cage."

"Don't say that, you belong here," he insisted. It was her turn to look at him pityingly.

"Maybe I don't," she suggested. "Because honestly? I kind of hate it here," she admitted. "This place has only ever brought me loss and sorrow and guilt. When I think of this place that's all it is to me now. A place where I buried the people I love. I can't wait to put this place behind me," she confessed. Damon gulped down his panic.

"You're making a mistake, Elena," he warned. "Your family and your friends are here," he reminded her. "Stefan's here, I'm here. Stay," he pled. "We can still protect you," he promised. She shook her head.

"You've never been able to protect me," she said bluntly. "Not from Katherine, or Elijah or Klaus. How do you think you can protect me form every single vampire out there? Word will get out, Klaus will make sure of it, and they'll come for me. This has never been a place of protection for my family or me. My whole family died here. My parents, Jenna, John, I even died here," she reminded him. "I only came back because of Bonnie and John. Without them I would've become a vampire. _You_ would've turned me into a vampire," she emphasized, looking directly at him and squirmed with guilt.

"I can't stay here anymore, I don't want to," she freely admitted. "I don't want to be a vampire, two brushes with immortality is enough of a warning for me. You have to let me go Damon," she implored. He shook his head fiercely.

"No, you can't ask me to do that," he insisted. She met his gaze straight on.

"I'm asking you to," she said. "You wanna know who my choice is? I choose me. And I'm leaving this place, and I'm never looking back, not for you, not for anyone." With that, she drained her glass and went back upstairs to her room.

Damon slumped against the table, defeated.

* * *

At half past two, Damon was passed out on the floor with Stefan beside him. Sam was reading in the big armchair and Dean was seated at the island in the kitchen. Light footsteps came down the stairs and padded into the kitchen. It was Elena again, still wide awake. She gave him a tired smile and held out her hand. He took it and let her lead him up the stairs to her room. Sam kindly kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't suppress his tiny smirk of amusement.

The lights in her room were still on, so he could clearly see the neatly packed bag at the end of her bed. She led him back to her window seat, and this time they sat side by side.

"Dean?" she said. "I want to leave Mystic Falls." He could see the sincerity in the tired lines of her face. She was too young to be so tired.

"We can leave first thing in the morning," he promised. Liz had called Caroline back with very little information on his father, anyone who had heard from him had only heard from him before he had even split from Dean. There was no reason to linger any longer.

She smiled gratefully and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her and she breathed in his comforting scent.

"Jer and I haven't even finished high school," she said in a small voice. It was the closest thing to doubt he was going to get. He squeezed her shoulder

"Sammy's pretty smart," he replied lightly. "He can help you study to get GEDs, if you want," he offered. She sighed against his neck, and he shivered at the feeling of her lips brushing against his skin.

"Thanks Dean," she whispered.

"Go to sleep, angel," he replied. She nodded tiredly against his neck, and stood up. But instead of saying good night, she turned off her lights and pulled him over to her bed. For the second time in two nights, he climbed into bed beside her and let her use him as a pillow. He didn't really mind

"G'night Dean," she slurred out sleepily.

'Night, angel," he replied. He could feel the beating of her heart against his chest, and it felt more intimate than anything he'd done with his endless string of one-night stands.

"Hey Dean," she whispered after a couple of moments.

"Yeah?" he grunted.

"You wanna be my best friend?" she whispered teasingly. He smiled against her hair.

"Hell yeah, angel," he said. She smiled against his chest, and he decided that he liked feeling her smile almost as much as he liked seeing it.

She fell asleep quickly, and he followed not long after.

* * *

In the morning Damon was gone, Stefan gave them a half-hearted smile and a helpless shrug. Caroline insisted he'd be back as soon as he was done with his hissy fit.

The Gilbert siblings packed their bags into the trunk of the Impala and then prepared to say their goodbyes. The Winchesters were already in the front seat, trying to give the siblings some privacy for their goodbyes. Jeremy's were mostly painless until it got to Bonnie. Nobody said anything if his eyes were a little shiny when he slid into the back of the Impala.

Elena tackled Matt and gave Stefan a quick, strong hug and made him promise to tell Damon that she said goodbye. She ended up bawling into Caroline's shoulder, who was just as helpless. Eventually their tears dissolved into giggles that no one but Bonnie seemed to understand the reason for. Elena only pulled out of the blonde's embrace after promising to call every day and extracting a promise that Caroline would say goodbye to Tyler for her as soon as he was himself again. Elena said goodbye to Bonnie last.

"So this is it?" Elena said, swiping at the tears still leaking from her eyes. Bonnie sniffed and wiped at her own tears.

"Not on your life, Gilbert," she snapped fiercely. "We'll see each other again, real soon," she swore and Elena nodded with fervent agreement. Bonnie pulled the taller girl into her embrace. Elena held onto her tightly.

"I'll miss you so much, Bonnie," she sobbed into her shoulder.

"Not gonna happen, Elena, because you are going to call me every day, and Skype me every night," she demanded, sniffing into her shoulder. Elena laughed but nodded against her shoulder.

"Of course," Elena said. Bonnie pulled out of her embrace so that she could look her in the face.

"I'm gonna make it safe for you to come back, I'll find a way to unlink you and Alaric, and you'll be able to come home again," she promised. Elena cupped her cheeks and gave her a sad smile.

"I know you will," she agreed. "But you're gonna have to forgive me if I don't come home again," she told her. Bonnie's lip trembled. "You're always gonna be my sister, Bonnie Bennett," she swore, "but maybe Mystic Falls isn't my home anymore," she continued. "Maybe I don't have a home anymore," she said with a sad shrug. "I guess I'm gonna find out. Maybe I'll find a new home." Elena shook her head and rallied for the cause.

"No matter what happens, we'll find our way back to each other, okay?" Elena said hopefully. Bonnie nodded vehemently.

"No matter what," she echoed. The two girls hugged one last time.

"I love you, Elena," Bonnie mumbled against her shoulder.

"I love you, Bon," Elena whispered back. They broke apart and Elena got into the car.

Dean raised his eyebrow at her in the rearview mirror and she gave him a wet smile. She was sad, but there was excitement in her face, and fierce determination. He smiled back at her and started the car.

"Ready to go, Gilberts?" he asked. Elena took Jeremy's hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. He squeezed back.

"Ready," she answered for both of them. He pulled the Impala out from the curb and drove them out of Mystic Falls, Virginia.

 **AN: Aaaaand, done! I hope ya'll enjoyed it! Reviews are always** **appreciated!**

 **xoxo**

 **-Pixie**


End file.
